


A New Life

by YuriNoShoujo



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: F/F, Hope, Post-Series, Rebuilding, Warnings refer to past Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-05-14 21:49:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14777858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YuriNoShoujo/pseuds/YuriNoShoujo
Summary: She had thought of one hundred scenarios of what she would see when she found Utena.Absolutely none of them involved what happened when she actually saw her.And it would change every single plan in front of her for good.





	1. An Unexpected Sight

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo, new story y’all!
> 
> Hope you like this!
> 
> Sorry I haven’t updated like anything else...exams are horrible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hellooo, new story y’all!
> 
> Hope you like this!
> 
> Sorry I haven’t updated like anything else...exams are horrible

There she was, sitting on at a park table, her hair softly glowing in the midday light. She wore a blue tank top with a denim jacket, and those shorts that she always wore but in black. It was the most beautiful sight that Anthy Himemiya had ever seen.

She found her in just under a year. It was almost a shock that it was so easy, that Akio didn’t even send her to another country. But then again, his hedonistic tendencies often meant he did the absolute bare minimum. Well, that and his lack of magic power and reach. 

Once the shock had subsided, however she took off in a run.

”Utena! Utena!” The words flew from her lips almost of their own accord. They caught her attention causing their eyes to meet.

They stood in a silent stand-off for either seconds or eternity. Anthy stood frozen as Utena’s emotions fluttered before her eyes, searching for any hatred or anger. She could find none. 

“Himemiya?” The word was stuttered out of Utena’s lips, disbelieving. She stood up and took a few tentative steps towards Anthy. She laced their fingers together, what she tried to do that day, even after everything that had happened.

After everything Anthy had done. 

All the lies. 

All the manipulation.

All the duels.

 

And Utena still didn’t hate her. 

 

She closed the space inbetween  them, curling into Utena’s chest crying that she was sorry, that she hates herself for what she had done, who she was, anything that could be apologised for. 

Utena led them back into her chair, stroking her hair and whispering sweet nothings as Anthy sobbed. She held her tight in one arm and started to rock her, as Anthy felt her other arm move over to something on her right, her attention momentarily diverted. Seconds later it was back in place, holding her closer than she ever did at Ohtori. An odd, but certainly good, feeling of safety washed over her, although niggling doubts at the back of her mind worried away. 

Why did Utena forgive her so easily? Anthy stabbed her in the back! Literally and metaphorically in one fell swoop! And she had been regretting that moment since that day. Utena should have punished her somehow, cut her out of her life, done something that wasn’t just caring for her. 

She extracted herself from the hug and looked at Utena dead in the eye. “Why won’t you hate me?” She asked, desperate. 

“Because you hate yourself enough?” She retorted. “Besides, I have done terrible things to you, and let terrible things happen to you, and you don’t hate me.”

She went on detailing her regrets, many of them just her not knowing things (not her fault, in Anthy’s eyes). Anthy said that there was nothing to forgive. She also instructed her to call her by her first name. 

Anthy asked them if they could just forget everything and start anew. Utena shot back that that was impossible, nodding her head to her right, as if there was something obvious stopping her. Something Anthy hadn’t seen.

She looked to where Utena was gesturing and saw a baby carriage. She could see a small blanketed figure inside. Her eyes dragged back to Utena, the gears in her mind unsure of which way to go.

Utena had her classic expression, the one that meant she had forgotten to say something really important or missed a huge detail, like that time she accidentally skipped two pages on a test. She quickly picked up the child in a way that indicated she had had much practice at it. On the light two features became crystal clear.

One. The shock of pink hair.

Two. The deep brown skin.

That could only mean one thing...no.

Utena was looking down at the child, a smile on her face. “I’m sowwy, I forgot to introduce you. Silly Mummy!”

Mummy? Utena met Anthy’s eyes once more. Her suspicions were confirmed even before Utena opened her mouth.

“Hime-Anthy?” She took a deep breath. “I’d like for you to meet Hotaru, my daughter.”

 

 


	2. A Positive Development

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya, for those waiting on Awake or literally any of my other works, I’m working on it...when not doing exams...I have a worse study ethic than Usagi I swear.
> 
> Anyways, here’s chapter 2!

* * *

She didn’t know why she followed her home. Utena’s apartment was quaint, slightly like their room back at Ohtori, but the light sounds of the hustle and bustle of neighbours meant it lacked the isolation. Utena offered tea, then had to dash away to change Hotaru, leaving Anthy alone in the small kitchen. It was sparsely decorated, mostly wooden with an electric stove in the corner. Several dirty dishes were scattered about. Breakfast perhaps? Her hands moved almost unthinkingly, restoring some order to the space as her mind wandered.  

A child? Akio had said nothing about a child. Anthy has thought for years, decades, centuries that that was impossible. The seed of life, well, one had to be living to plant it. Or at least that’s what she thought. Apparently it was a lie. He was very good at lying. 

Anthy shuddered, suddenly realising how this came to be. A trick. The baby was essentially a child by rape. Something disgusting, wrong, evil and a torrent of other insults. 

But there she was, she wasn’t wrong or evil at all. Really she was a blank slate, she hadnt done anything yet. And Utena seemed to adore her...

So tiny. An odd flimsy thing, totally dependent on others, yet all Anthy wanted to do was see her again. Babies...rather strange like that. She hadn’t seen one since the beginning of the duels. Adolescents, the prime duelist material, weren’t having children, they were too young. 

Or gay...

”Hi-Anthy?” Utena was back. She looked oddly at the dishes in Anthy’s hands. “You don’t have to do that. This isn’t Ohtori. We got away...” There was a quaver in her voice. 

Of course. Utena didn’t know she wasn’t the Rose Bride anymore. She wasn’t a normal girl, and probably never would be, but she _had_ changed and broken from the shackles of her old role. But how to show that? 

Anthy met Utena’s blue eyes in a piercing stare, deliberately defiant. “And have tea in a dirty kitchen?” 

“Yes-No! I mean-“ Utena floundered for a minute, her expression making it clear that that was not how to react. Anthy shushed her. Explaining herself was never her strong point  but she began to speak, reaching out to touch Utena’s face. Tears threatened to fall down her cheeks again. 

“We’re free now. I know this. I found you. We’re free.”

Utena nodded. “I-it just brought me back...a lot of things do that actually...I mean yesterday when I was at the shops there was someone I just Swear looked like Wakaba. Do you ever get that feeling?”

Anthy said yes. They sat down and had their tea. Hotaru seemed to stare at Chu Chu from her mat on the floor. 

 Oh no. Anthy wondered if Chu Chu could ever pretend to be a toy.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done exams! Will update everything soon!
> 
> Sorry for any awkward phrasing in the first half, still tryna get a perfect hit on Anthy’s voice...


	3. A Difficult Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi y’all, sorry about the last chapter (my phone glitched and posted it only halfway done...three times) so I have left it in that state. Consider this part two of chapter two only it says chapter three in the contents.
> 
> Whatevs!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, a tonne of backstory!

Anthy took a deep breath. The air was still, emanating an aura of trepidation. Utena was looking at her, one could practically hear the gears in her head spinning as she looked Anthy over.

”So what are you doing now?”

It took several seconds—that felt like hours—for Anthy to admit that she had been almost single mindedly looking for her. It was a task that consumed her energy more than anything else and gave her a new identity; eschewing the Rose Bride for a woman on a Quest. It bought her to the sudden realisation. Now what?

”So what have you been doing?” Anthy asked, filing her mental questions away.

”Other than caring for my daughter and/or cleaning up after her? Furiously finishing assignments for school, annoying my coach and doctor so I can get back into sport and getting my second caseworker fired.”

Anthy blanched. There had to be a story there. Caseworker? Fired? 

“Do tell, just don’t spill too much tea while your at it.”

”What does that even mean? Anyway, I was assigned as caseworker after I was admitted as well, you show up, fourteen, eight weeks pregnant with a stab wound through your abdomen the doctors assume the absolute worst. Then after finding I had no next of kin apparently it was insane. I was stuck on bed rest while healing from the wound. I was apparently very high risk. I was monitored so much. I was told I was lucky. One inch to the left and I would have lost the baby.”

Anthy winced. How the hell did Utena forgive her, knowing that she almost killed Hotaru? 

“They got me my first case worker a couple of days after I had been admitted to hospital. I don’t remember much about our first meeting. Think I was still in shock about finding out about Hotaru the day before! She was nice, she got me set up with hospital school services then helped me get this place and figure out what to buy for the baby. Sadly, she had to transfer when I was eight months along. So I got a new caseworker. She didn’t like me at all, and thought lowly of the other young mothers. She said she’d take Hotaru away from me after she was born if I made one wrong move.

Well when she was born, it was pretty well known that she wasn’t totally Japanese. I refused to tell the father, so my daughter has my name. We are the last two Tenjou’s in Japan. Apparently that was my one wrong move. She threatened to take my baby away. I rang every single doctor and nurse I could saying that she wanted to take away the Tenjou heiress. Money talks I guess, and a good name can get you anything. She was fired that day. My new one Kira-san is nice. I’ve only had her for three weeks though.”

Anthy tried to make heads and tails of that statement, eyes widening. She nodded, head moving up and down slowly. Communication, at least when it was blunt and honest, had never been a strong point. She changed the subject yet again, proving the aforementioned point.

”Where do you go to school now?”

”The local one: Yamako. It’s tiny compared to Ohtori and really different, like there isn’t really that cliquey hierarchy. There is only two classes of third years, and most actually sent me gifts when I left on maternity leave. The teachers sent assignments.”

They both giggled at that. Hotaru started to squeal, squirming about. Utena picked her up and she immediately quieted. 

“She’s a bit active. If she has to stay in one place for too long she goes insane. She probably can’t wait to start crawling.” 

“Hmm, I wonder why...”

”Anthy!” It was the first time that Utena hadn’t stumbled over the name. Anthy supposed that meant that they were friends now. Real friends.

”A-Anthy...” Utena said her name again, this time with a tremor in her voice. Her body language was uneasy, what could have caused her change in mood? “W-would you like to hold H-Hotaru?” 

Anthy nodded. Utena’s nerves made sense now. She shakily told her how to place her arms as she moved the baby into them. She seemed to calm down as the infant simply cooed in Anthy’s arms, staring up at her with the same blue eyes as her mother. 

The answer to the now what suddenly came to her.

She had found Utena and she had let her in. Just like Utena had found her in the coffin.

Their fingers twined together unconsciously. Their minds were in sync.

“Can I go to Yamako with you?”

”Can you come to Yamako with me?”

The answer was of course yes. Hotaru looked at her mother and aunt quizzically, probably wondering what the teenagers could be laughing about now. Chu Chu pretended his teacup was a wineglass, babbling a toast about a new life then downing the dregs.

 Anthy agreed. A new life it was.

* * *

Three hours on the phone later Anthy was enrolled as a third year middle schooler. The fact that the transfer papers magically had come in the mail halfway through the call was just a coincidence and the glowing report from the Chair was totally true. 

Now she had to find a place to live. Utena offered to vouch for her with any landlord and offered her couch for the night. Anthy took the offer gratefully. Well, the couch half. As much as their relationship was tracking, she still had many months to catch up on before the bed-sharing stage.

After they had cleaned up Utena was straight to study mode, scribbling rapidly through a translation worksheet before moving on to maths. Anthy kept Hotaru “amused and not in vomiting distance” of Utena. She could guess the story there.

As her cooking skill still had learning curve she ordered takeout for dinner. There was little mealtime conversation, Anthy was practically eating faster than Utena and Chu Chu demonstrated his ability: being a living black hole. 

It was odd how domestic it was. 

They both started school in two weeks. Utena called it their honeymoon. It was a joke, friends can joke like that. 

Anthy retorted that their anniversary better be good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of things you might want to note. Japan as a country doesn’t really have a foster system, rather children are placed in institutions after loss of parents/severe abuse. 
> 
> Another thing is that birth parents have a lot of control of custody rights. 
> 
> As Utena is a teenager she is living alone (well with Hotaru), similar to Makoto’s situation in Sailor Moon.
> 
> Also *roll credits* add 1 sin

**Author's Note:**

> You get zero points for guessing where I got Utena’s Daughter’s name from...and I get zero points for creativity...lol


End file.
